Te Āti Hau Trust - Trust scholarships provide more than pūtea

Trust Case Study

Two students supported by Te Āti Hau Trust are focusing on the value of mātauranga Māori in the taiao space.

The wāhine say at the heart of their studies is the way mātauranga Māori can be used to add different perspectives to understanding the environment.

Leana Barriball is a shareholder descendant and also of Ngāti Tama, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine descent. She is using both the Western scientific approach and mātauranga Māori in her PhD studies, looking at the impact rising sea levels would have on two īnanga spawning sites in the rohe of Ngāti Kahungunu.

She is the recipient of the PhD Scholarship, which has enabled her to fund the time she needed to spend in the field collecting raw data for her studies.

“For me, the two approaches are different ways of knowing things. Science is very specific to the thing you are looking at – you control everything around it, isolate it, to get to know it better. Mātauranga Māori makes connections and looks at how the thing behaves in response. It uses whakapapa, pūrākau and tohu to be able to make predictions and provide understanding. Neither is better than the other, they are just

different ways of learning about the thing.”

Working part-time at the Parliamentary Commission for the Environment, the watchdog for all environmental agencies, studying part-time and co-parenting her two tamariki, Leana is in her third year of the five years she thinks it will take to complete her work.

“There’s a lot of juggling, and, unfortunately, money can be a big stressor when you are taking on a period of study,” says Leana.

“Receiving the scholarship has made a big difference in enabling me to complete my fieldwork without having to worry all the time. I’ve also been able to give koha in acknowledgement and appreciation for those who have shared their time and knowledge with me.”

But the scholarship means more than just pūtea.

“Knowing that my iwi can see the value in my work, and how it will benefit future generations, gives me a greater belief in myself,” she says.

And the same is true for Pania Tutemahurangi (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Whakatōhea), recipient of the Ravensdown Scholarship and studying Bachelor of Resource and Environmental Planning with Māori Studies at Massey University.

“When I applied, I didn’t know if this was even the right direction for me,” she confesses. “But receiving the scholarship gave me a real feeling that my whānau believed in me and so I should believe in myself.”

“Now I know I am doing something right and realise that I am a generation that can make a huge difference in the place for those to come.”

Her course of study will allow her to pursue many different avenues – for example, planning policy, resource consent, transport, urban planning –while looking though a Māori world lens.

“I love the fact that the learning and knowledge I am gaining is in something that is so relevant for my whānau and iwi in how we care for our environment, the lakes and awa and I want to come home and work with and for them one day,” she says.

Pania studies full-time as well as running her own gym. She also had a part-time job at Kapiti Coast District Council, but the scholarship meant she could give that up and focus more on her studies.

“It’s made such a difference to me that I don’t have to worry about the money I need for my living expenses quite so much,” she says. She has one more year to go before completing the four-year course. Both Leana and Pania say they would encourage anyone thinking of applying for a scholarship to do so.

“It does mean you have to put yourself out there and talk about what you want to achieve, and the successes you have chalked up to get to this point,” says Leana. “Māori are a humble people, so it can feel very daunting to talk about yourself in such a positive way, but it is important we do these things so others can see our passion and support us in it.”

“I thought ‘what have I got to lose?” says Pania. “And it turned out that actually I had so much to gain. Now I am on track pursuing a career I am passionate about, in a way that will benefit who and where I come from.”

“Sometimes you just have to jump in and give it a go.”